Silas blinked. "What?"
Reia sat up straighter. Vyn didn’t move, but her gaze locked onto Garos. Evelyn looked genuinely confused.
But Lucian... Lucian stepped forward.
Garos turned his head slightly. "Excuse me?"
Lucian walked slowly toward the center of the room, his arms now at his sides, voice even but sharp.
Garos didn’t respond.
Lucian kept going. "You said—if we entered that gate, if we survived that bullshit SSS-ranked trap—you’d sign off our early graduation. That was the deal. We risked our lives. And we still cleared it. Even after things went sideways."
"You can’t go back on that now."
Garos met his eyes. "The situation has changed."
Lucian’s jaw tightened. "No. You changed it."
"I’m trying to protect you—"
"Protect us from what?" Lucian cut in. "We already faced something worse than what’s out there. We were S-Rank at best when we walked into that gate. We fought through something that doesn’t even exist in your records. And we came out standing."
"Barely," Garos muttered.
"But we did," Lucian said, stepping closer. "We survived. We won. And now you’re saying we can’t graduate? Bullshit."
Garos exhaled slowly. His voice lowered. "It’s dangerous out there now. More than before. Someone’s targeting you. All of you."
Lucian laughed once. Not with humor. Just disbelief.
Garos frowned. "And I’m not letting you walk out and get yourselves killed."
Lucian’s voice dropped. "I don’t need protection."
Reia and Silas shifted uncomfortably, but they didn’t interrupt.
Lucian continued. "I’m not asking to be coddled. I’m asking for what we earned. If you’re saying no—then I’m done. I’ll drop out."
"I’m serious." His tone was flat. Final. "If I can’t graduate, I don’t need your license, your badge, your recognition."
Garos’s brow tightened. "If you walk out now, you won’t be recognized by the Hunter Association. No badge means no gate clearance. No commissions. No credits. No backup. You’ll be nothing but a rogue."
Lucian didn’t blink. "Then I’ll be a rogue."
"That’s not how this world works."
Lucian scoffed. "The first Awakeners didn’t have badges when they raided their first gates. They weren’t waiting around for paperwork and uniforms. They saw a threat, and they handled it."
"You’re being reckless."
"I’m being honest. You’re the one changing rules mid-game."
Garos raised his voice. "You don’t understand what’s happening."
Lucian snapped back, "No. I understand perfectly. I understand that we fought through hell, made it out, and now you’re scared of what we became inside that gate."
The room went silent again.
Lucian turned his head toward the others.
"Well?" he said. "You coming or what?"
Silas opened his mouth—paused. Reia looked at her hand. Evelyn stayed frozen.
"Sit down," Garos said, voice firm.
Lucian stared at him.
"Make me," he said quietly.
But it wasn’t Lucian who answered.
She didn’t speak right away. She walked calmly toward Garos, her cloak brushing softly across the floor. Then she stopped, just a few feet from him.
"Dad," she said softly. "Don’t do this."
The room went dead still.
Silas’s lips parted slightly. Reia’s eyes went wide. Evelyn almost dropped her cup.
Lucian blinked. "Wait—what?"
Garos’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t deny it.
"You’re from the Thorne family?" Reia said, stunned.
Vyn didn’t look away from Garos. "He’s my father."
Lucian tilted his head, slowly. "Well... didn’t see that coming."
Garos looked between them, gaze heavy. Then he stepped back.
"I’m sorry," he said.
"You promised," Vyn said.
Silas stood now too. "So that’s it? After everything—now we’re prisoners?"
"I’m trying to keep you safe."
Lucian laughed again. "Then you’re doing a shitty job."
Garos turned, stepped toward the wall behind his desk.
His palm pressed against a scanner.
There was a loud click.
A soft hum filled the air.
Everyone in the room felt it immediately.
Reia gasped. Silas staggered slightly. Evelyn gripped the edge of the table. Vyn’s eyes narrowed.
Lucian exhaled slowly as a weight pressed against his chest.
"...You activated a dampener?" he said, voice tight.
Garos didn’t turn around.
"The academy is under lockdown. All exits are sealed. Anti-ability field is active. Until further notice... no one leaves."
Reia clutched her stomach. "I can’t... feel my mana."
Silas’s fists trembled. "My strength is dropping."
Evelyn’s eyes widened. "He’s serious."
He just looked at Garos.
"You really gonna do this?"
Garos turned to face him. "Yes."
Lucian stepped closer, even as the dampener made every breath feel heavier.
"I thought you were different," he said.
"I thought so too," Garos replied.
Lucian stared at him for a long moment.
He turned to the others—Reia, Silas, Evelyn, Vyn.
Lucian was done playing nice.
Lucian took a slow breath and closed his eyes.
Everything went still.
The weight of the dampener hung in the air like wet concrete, pressing down on every nerve, every cell. The others were sweating, their abilities muted—like being cut off from part of themselves.
But Lucian... was silent.
And something shifted.
Reia flinched first. She wasn’t sure what changed exactly—until she looked into his gaze.
"...Reia," he whispered, voice tight.
"I see it," she murmured.
In Lucian’s pupils, faint but glowing, an infinity symbol shimmered like a mark etched into the soul—looping, pulsing, alive.
Vyn blinked once. Her expression barely changed, but her eyes locked on it.
It wasn’t just visual.
The room changed with it.
The pressure of the dampener—gone.
Reia gasped as her mana flooded back.
Silas grunted, rolling his shoulders as the weight lifted from his muscles.
Vyn raised her hand. The symbol on her palm pulsed once.
Only Evelyn didn’t see it.
She just blinked and looked around, confused. "Wait—did it shut off?"
"No..." Reia muttered. "He canceled it."